Syntax to initialize 2D (Jagged), built-in array at runtime

[TheMaster42]

I want to create a “jagged” built-in array of GameObjects in Unity Script. The first dimension will always have 4 elements, but I want to define the length of each sub-array at runtime. I’ve tried:

private var armorBarReferences : GameObject[,];
armorBarReferences = new GameObject[4];

Which returns: Cannot convert ‘UnityEngine.GameObject’ to ‘UnityEngine.GameObject[,]’.

I also tried:

private var armorBarReferences : System.Array[];
armorBarReferences = new System.Array[4];

But with the second case, something like:

armorBarReferences[currentArc] *= Instantiate(armorBarObject, position, rotation);*

armorBarReferences[currentArc].transform.localScale += Vector3(1, 1, 1.1);

Gives: ‘transform’ is not a member of ‘Object’.
I think I could do this with a JavaScript Array class as the first dimension, but wanted to learn the “right” way. The size of the arrays will never change once I’ve set them, so the built-in arrays seemed the right choice.

[Azzara]

GameObject[,] is a not a jagged array. It is called a multi-dimensional array.
GameObject is a jagged array. Which one do you want to use? If all 4 elements have the same length n, then yes, your multi-dimensional array GameObject[,] is the right choice.

However, you can’t change the size of the second dimension of a GameObject[,] at runtime. You have to set both sizes when you initialize the array. Like this

  var n = 100; // decide what element length to use at runtime
  armorBarReferences = new GameObject[4, n];

Edit:
If you need a jagged array GameObject, it is a little tricky to declare it in Javascript. You can try this

private var dummy : GameObject[] = null;
private var armorBarReference = [ dummy, dummy, dummy, dummy ];